The binge drinking girl who suffered liver failure at just 14

By LUKE SALKELD

Last updated at 20:57 14 April 2008

She started drinking heavily at the age of 12. And by the time she was 14, Natasha Farnham was told by shocked doctors that she was the youngest patient they had ever seen with liver failure caused by alcohol abuse.

She was drinking up to six bottles of wine a day - and now, at 18, she has been warned that if she drinks again she will die.

Her descent into a life of ruined health and petty crime again illustrates the perils of cheap alcohol and the culture of binge-drinking that grips Britain.

The teenager wants to tell her story to warn others of the dangers.

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Natasha Farnham would steal from her mum Michelle to pay for her spiralling habit

"I didn't think my drinking was a problem because all my friends were getting wasted every weekend as well," she recalled.

"I suppose I thought I looked grown-up and would drink as much as possible - sometimes even passing out.

"But now I have no short-term memory and doctors warn me that if I drink any more, I will die. Don't end up like me.

"I have been a binge-drinker, had liver failure and been in rehab and I'm still a teenager."

After drinking a bottle of highstrength cider when she was 12, Natasha soon turned into what she describes as an "alcoholic dropout", drinking up to four times a week and skipping school.

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Natasha started drinking at the age of 12

"I never questioned what I was doing and my mum didn't know because I would pretend I was staying at a friend's house," she said.

"I would save my dinner money and spend it on booze.

"It was never hard to get our hands on alcohol.

"In fact, it was the easiest part. The hardest part was saving for it."

Natasha, of Bath, Somerset, also stole from her mother to pay for her habit.

She said: "At 13, I would drink up to three litres of wine a day, followed by two bottles of Lambrini and perhaps a litre of vodka.

"I was too young to understand what an alcoholic was, let alone understand that I was one.

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She is now warning youngsters about the dangers of binge drinking

"When I was told about the liver failure, it was the doctors that looked the most shocked.

"They said that they hadn't ever seen liver failure in someone so young.

"But it didn't sink in at all."

On New Year's Day 2004, she was rushed to hospital after a three-day binge in which she drank four boxes of wine - equivalent to 16 bottles.

"The doctors warned me to clean up my act or I could die," she added.

"But I didn't listen."

Natasha, who continued to drink while taking tablets for her liver failure, pleaded guilty to burglary at Bristol Crown Court last week and was given a two-year community order.

She has been on a rehabilitation programme for two months and is finally working with doctors to beat her addiction.

Her mother Michelle, 40, said: "When she started drinking, it was around the same time that alcopops were being advertised.

"I'm sure Natasha is not the first, or the last, teenage binge-drinker to be diagnosed with liver failure."

Sarah Matthews, of the British Liver Trust, said: "This is a tragedy and she is very lucky to be alive.

"I am pretty certain she is the youngest person in the UK to suffer liver failure from drinking.

"This case raises a lot of issues.

"The main thing that needs to be done is for supermarkets to stop offering alcohol at pocket-money prices.